From the day we landed on Maui, this was our beach of choice, The Cove! It was perfect! There was always parking, it was always sunny and warm, not too crowded, board rentals & shave ice with in walking distance and you could just walk out to the surf--it was nice and shallow, the perfect learners spot!
Dad and Lauren tried out the paddle boards!
And Brody really took to surfing!! I have a ton of photos of him up on the board, but this one was the best! Sure the waves aren't too big, but it was a learners beach! =)
Lauren picked up the paddle board with ease! =) She and I were joking that by the end of the trip she would be doing hand stands and juggling out there! She got so good at it!!
As for me, I played around some with both the paddle board and the surf board. I got to my knees some and tried to stand up, but I don't think my balance is ready for that just yet! But it was a blast to play around out in the water, and give it all a try! =)
Brody and I trying to use the paddle board together, like a kayak! it worked pretty well! =) ...We all love this beach and we spent many days here from morning to about lunch!
There's nothing like shave ice on a hot hot day! =)
While waiting to meet back up with Lauren and Mike (a friend of Lauren's from BYU, who was living and working here for the summer), we were sitting across the street from the Bubba Gump Shrimp.....and after awhile we couldn't help getting a photo with him! =) It was killer hot, none of us knew how this guy could stand out on the street in the sun for 6 hours a day!
This is a BIG banyan tree. It is just one tree, with all these branches that came off of it. This tree was SO big I couldn't get back far enough to fit the whole thing in frame. It was so pretty!
We went to one of the resorts (I can't remember which one right now) to watch this guy who comes out to light the tiki torches and then dives off the rocks! And we stopped to get a photo with a rainbow that showed up! =)
Here he is running out with his torch
The sunset that night was incredible!! My camera almost did it justice! It was such a beautiful night to be out on the beach!
Here he is diving off
After the show we went and ate at the hotels pool/beach side restaurant, and I got my drink in this cute little monkey (that I got to take home)!
Since this time around Brody did more surfing and we were busy with other things, we really didn't have time to golf....but we were able to visit some courses on the island while we were out exploring...and the guys got some putting time in! =)
We saw lots of Sea Turtles!
There were so many beautiful beaches that we got to explore and enjoy! It was so fun to see everything that Maui has to offer!
Waiting for the blow hole to appear
You can tell how high it got by looking at the brave/crazy guy and his kid standing right in front of the blow hole. =)
It was crazy windy, Lauren and I felt like we were going to blow away. We had to regain our footing a lot. It was so much fun!
Dad and the girls! =)
Brody and I checked out this restaurant called 'Cheese Burger in Paradise', that was in this mall down the street from our condo---after exploring the beaches and such!
As you can tell from the photo here, it was soooooo good!! And everything came with a festive little umbrella (even Brody's drink above, but by this point it was in my hair)! =)
We had this big bull frogs around our condo, they would just sit there, making noises....and we loved them! =)
While Lauren and Dad took a boat out to dive Molokini---Mom, brody and I did about a 3rd of The Road to Hana. It was so fun, we had a CD that guided us and told us fun facts and places to stop along the way! =) The CD totally made us laugh, and we saw a lot of great sights!
We pulled of right before we have to turn around to get the divers, and....
walked through a bit of jungle....
and found this beautiful tucked away waterfall and pool!! It was SO fun to find!
One of the bridges along the way
Our 'tour guide' on the CD said that at this point there were a lot of Guavas around, and if you wanted you could pick some up and eat them! This interged me, so I picked some up and took them back to the condo, and tried some (I was the only one who tired these), they were so good!! I need to find some here at the store!
One morning Brody and I took a drive that my Mom & Dad found. We went out along this road and at one point all that is around you for miles is crushed lava, it felt like you were on a different planet! At the end we ended up here! It was very different then anywhere else we had been on the trip. Very grey with nothing but lava and rock, and just a bit of sand. It was such a pretty place, and a fun change of scenery!
Mom was later telling me (when she and I went back), that Dolphins sometime rest here in the bay just over the wall behind us in the mornings. We didn't see any this time.
Here is a small shot of what most of the drive looks like out to that beach. Just lava rock for as long as you can see! =)
We had a couple Geckos in our condo one night, and Lauren's friend Mike caught one for us. I tried to get a close up of him, and forgot to turn my flash off--and totally blinded the poor little guy!! Mike tried to put him back on the wall and he just fell right off and then ran into the walls. I felt so bad! He put him outside, and I hope he got his sight back after a bit! =/
We had some GREAT breakfasts on this trip, and we didn't even have to leave our condo! Mom would cook up Pineapple sausages, eggs, fresh fruits and more! It was SO SO good!! =)
We loved our condo, it became our home away from home!
This couch was a BIG hit! It was soooooo comfy! It seemed that there was always someone napping on it! =)
Our place from the outside
and our last sunset before leaving Hawaii...
It was such a fun trip! And we loved every minute of it!
Thank you again Mom & Dad for another amazing trip! We love you!!
